Death is now
by XanonymousXX
Summary: Redmond and Blutach decide to end the war with new 'rules'. Namely, extortion, torture and ransom, anything to get the intel. however, when the RED team captures the BLU scout, it that going too far? Note: Chapter 10 is where the torture actually starts. And please bear with the shirt chapters three to nine, I'm currently working on lengthening them. Thank you
1. Chapter 1

I refuse to do a disclaimer for every chapter, so I'll do this once, I (very sadly)do not anything to do with TF2 (this disclaimer lasts the whole story)

Chap 1

The Administrator's eye twitched as nameless, faceless assistants wheeled in both Mann brothers. The fact that both of them were here meant that something big was going to happen. Something that had probably been discussed in private, without her knowledge. The administrator did not like being left out.

"Greetings brother."said Redmond Mann stiffly as Blutarch offered his hand. The hand dropped as Blutarch repeated the greeting, with as little enthusiasm.

"Well then gentlemen, shall we get started?" Helen turned her chair for a moment to face the two forever bickering brothers. "to what do I owe the honor of a personal visit from the both of you? Undoubtedly, you have new changes for me. What is it this time?"

Blutarch seemed to want to say something but was cowed into silence by Helen's icy tone and intense gaze, so Redmond took over, despite being just as scared.

"There is no way to say this kindly, so I'll be frank, stop the respawn."

The administrator's eyebrows shot up. She seriously considered questioning this order, only because she found it amusing to watch the mercenaries' idiotic antics. She blew smoke into the air as she wondered how best to phrase her reply. Despite being able to overpower the Mann brothers, they still had their uses and (though she hated to admit it) she could accomplish nothing by herself if she was fired for being rude.

As if reading her mind, Blutarch supplied the answer, "Me and my brother wish to finish this war soon. We have lived for far too long and the pull to go over to what most people would call the 'other side' grows stronger everyday. We have limited time to settle our lifelong dispute and enjoy our birthright. Let the mercenaries torture. Kill if they must, but finish this soon. One of us will win, I will ensure it. It will be me."

Miss Pauling, who had standing in the shadows, stepped forward and opened her mouth in her first act of defiance.

"Aren't you people at all bothered that real people might actually die? I mean, won't it throw the teams off-balance if one class should be killed permanently?" She nearly shouted, very unlike her indeed. The Administrator knew that she had formed a bond with the teams, despite her numerous warnings, but this was going too far.

"Pauling! Hold your tongue! If you wish to help, monitor the two teams on the screens for me! I need to be able to fully pay attention to the Mann brothers." Helen hissed these words through her teeth, daring Pauling to argue. She didn't. And, silently fuming, went to the screens.

Redmond coughed to regain Helen's attention before continuing," Do not worry. I do not need much more of your time. Just stop the respawn, and let them battle it out. I want it over with so I can regain what was always meant for me."

"I would appreciate it if you did not order me around, especially in my own office building. Need I remind you that this building has over two hundred hand-picked people loyal only to me? I don't think that two wheelchair-bound people can compare to that, do you?" Helen couldn't resist reminding the brothers who was truly in charge. The brothers did not like their handicaps being mentioned.

"Leave. I will alert you of any major game changes."

The two brothers visibly scowled at these words, but left her to her business. They tried to hold on to whatever dignity they still possessed as two of Helen's assistants wheeled them out to the waiting stretch limousines outside. One red, one blue, just like everything else they owned

The moment the brothers left the room, Helen wheeled around to face her assistant.

"Oh Pauling, be a dear and make some coffee would you? Then alert the mercenaries of the new game change." All traces of defiance gone, Pauling nodded once and scurried off to make them both coffee and to prepare the car.

Helen smiled and made a bridge with her hands as she smiled and leaned forward, watching the RED soldier intently. Oh this was going to get very, very interesting...

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	2. Chapter 2

Chap 2

"Attention all mercenaries , I don't care if you are mortally injured, get your pathetic selves onto the bridge IMMEDIATELY! Miss Pauling will meet you there with your new instructions. Oh yes, no killing allowed, the ceasefire start early today and lasts until morning." Helen's voice boomed over the whole of Teufort so that everyone, from the newly-respawned RED Medic to the BLU Heavy on lunch break, immediately started running to the bridge for all they were worth.

The moment the Scouts from both teams heard the words 'Miss Pauling' they ran as fast as their quick little bunny legs could carry them to the bridge, and then proceeded to argue as to why he should be the one to take Miss Pauling out, despite her very audible (and irritated) protests. Eventually, she gave up and began the briefing without the Scouts. They didn't even realize that she had already started until their respective Demomans grabbed them by the scruffs of their necks and dumped them right in front of her.

After she recovered from the shock of having two scouts dumped in front of her, Miss Pauling continued.

"Ahem, yes, as I was saying, Redmond and Blutarch Mann wish for this war to end soon, so new rules have been imposed. The über charge will still be eight seconds," she said firmly as she saw the excited look on the BLU medic's face.

"The respawn has been halted. This time, if you die, you will not come back, EVER. For all of you who have been treating this as a game, I would advice you to stop now." A resounding silence followed these words, the RED Demoman even stopped drinking, but just for a moment.

"Both teams are still allowed to kill, of course, but now," A small smile was tugging at her lips at these words,"Torture, ransom,extortion, any form of violence for the intel is allowed." a buzz started at these words, with the occasional snarl and evil glare at the other team's direction.

"Don't worry, there are still rules to make sure you do not go overboard. Yes, you may capture people from the other team. HOWEVER, you may not attempt to capture them during ceasefire. You may torture them during ceasefire but may not directly kill them during that time period. If they die due to bloodloss from previously inflicted wounds, it does not count as 'direct killing'. The definition of direct killing is if a person hits or shoots another with the intent to -"

"Forgive me for interrupting, Fräulein Pauling, but how are you supposed to know whether the person wants to kill ze other?" The RED Medic's question was valid. So, even though Miss Pauling was not used to being interrupted, she decided to answer.

"After all this time, do you honestly think the Administrator doesn't know you men well enough to tell when you people are planning on killing someone else? Do you even remember how long you have been working for us? No? THAT'S how long. So long that even your own minds have forgotten. Apart from that valid, albeit stupid questions, I trust all of you to know better than to interrupt me. As I was saying, the team of the captured person, however, may attempt to infiltrate and rescue the captured person, or persons. Then, and only then, is direct contact between the two teams is allowed." Miss Pauling looked at her clipboard to see if she had missed out on anything. Thankfully, she had not.

The moment Miss Pauling looked up again, she was bombarded with numerous questions from both teams demanding to know whether their weapons still had the same limits.

To her credit, she tolerated it for a full minute.

"Silence! SILENCE! Yes, all your weapons still have the same limits! Any other questions?-no, not from the scouts." Miss Pauling said, seeing both Scout's eager hands in the air.

"No? Very well, the ceasefire will last until ten in the morning, sharp. I expect both teams to put this time to good use and think of a plan. If not, well... Just remember that the person who allowed ceasefire to start early is also the one watching your. Every. Move. Good luck, gentlemen. This is the last time I will be seeing some of you, so goodbye."

With that, she strolled off to the chain link fence, slipped under a loose wire, climbed into a ice-blue Bentley and drove off.

"I dunno how that wee lass scares me more than a bunker o' nuclear missiles." The BLU Demoman gave a nervous chuckle and downed the rest of his scotch before drawing the back of his hand over his mouth.

"May the best man win," growled the RED soldier. Under his breath, he added,"Considering I'm the only REAL man here, the result is obvious."

"Hey! Watch your friggin' mouth. You callin' me a sissy?!" The BLU Scout lunged at him, only to be restrained by a very irritated Heavy.

"Do not attack him, leetle Scout. Now is ceasefire, and SHE will be watching us. Do not disobey the rules of the ceasefire, or there vill be hell to pay." The Heavy gently placed the Scout back onto the ground.

"Yeah, yeah. Just watch your filthy back, RED bastards." The Scout readjusted his cap, spat at the RED Soldier's feet and stalked back to the BLU base, followed by the rest of his team. The REDs could do no more than shake their fists and curse, before filing back to their own base.

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	3. Chapter 3

Chap 3

At the red base...

"ALRIGHT LADIES! TIME TO PLAN!" the soldier bellowed, much to the other's amusement.

"the all-american boy wants to PLAN?! Who are you and what have you done to the bossy, douche-bagish soldier we all love?"the scout cried, pinning the now terrified soldier to the wall of the barracks.

It took a further ten minutes to pry the two RED team members apart. And by then they only had about six hours left to plan.

"I propose zat we capture one of ze BLU members and hold him for ransom, and torture if we must" said the French spy calmly. To his own and everyone else's surprise, they found themselves agreeing to this plan and started debating on who they should capture.

Suddenly, the scout, who had been unusually quiet, supplied the best answer.

"why don't all you idiotic bastards take that useless, waste-of-space they call a scout? He's impulsive, arrogant, and foul mouthed. Easy enough to goad into anything. Just Place a bait n'trap for 'im."

"very much like our OWN scout" sniggered the medic openly, earning a whack over the head by the scouts bat, which in turn angered the very protective heavy, causing him to grab 'Sasha' and swing her around.

After the more professional members of the team had pried all the brawling members apart, the engineer, now panting and red faced, told them to get to bed, in a way that reminded the scout of his mother and how she used to pry him and his brothers apart.

Smiling lazily, the RED team slowly made its way to bed. As the soldier would say,nothing like a good nights sleep to end a day of brawling.

**Reviews are appreciated!**


	4. Chapter 4

Chap 4

Meanwhile at BLU...

As the mercenaries gathered around the intelligence after a delicious stew (courtesy of engineer), they immediately started arguing, much to the sniper's displeasure.

"Oi! Ya bloody pikers, we gathered here to PLAN, not brawl it out. We have enough of that in the field. Have about we pretend to be civilized for three bloody seconds?" clearly the Sniper was extremely ticked. Silence reigned as soon as his hand collided with the highly polished glass surface on the first 'Oi', sending a spiderweb of cracks scurrying along the glass. Even the Scout seemed cowed by this new side of Sniper.

"Why do we even need to plan?" said the Spy lazily, calmly taking out two cigarettes from his seemingly endless supply and tossing one to Soldier, who snatched it our of the air eagerly.

"hmmm...let's see...why do we need to plan?" said the ever hyperactive Scout, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "this'll take three points to argue. One, to WIN, two, to prevent us PERMANENTLY dying?"

"and three?" said the Heavy timidly. "three? Oh right."the Scout said, counting on his fingers," three, let's see...OH! To show that bloody-sorry," the Scout said hurriedly as he saw the Sniper's face darken upon hearing his signature catchphrase, "asshole-ish sorry excuse of a team whose boss?"

A murmur of agreement broke out upon hearing the three reasons, only to be stopped by the Medic chiding the Sniper on getting a glass cut, which then fueled a round of unrestrained laughter at the sight of Sniper, his head bowed, like a mourner at a funeral.

"Alright then, if y'all are ready to hit the hay, g'night y'all. Just do your best and I'm sure we'll be just fine" nobody else argued with this statement, so the Engineer took this as a sign of acknowledgement and left for his room, closely followed by a highly embarrassed Sniper, then the Scout, his fingers in his ears to block out the singing coming from a very drunk demoman.

Slowly, the room emptied until there only the Medic, Spy and Pyro were left. The moment the Soldier filed out, the Spy spoke," they will capture one of us, no doubt. The only problem is who."

"that is easy enough to say, either the Sniper or Scout. One staying too still for his own good, and ze other acting too fast to stop and properly think"the Medic supplied readily.

"Zat is easy enough to counter, I will stay near to the sniper if you, Pyro, stay near the Scout. What? Oh right, how will you keep up with him? Just tell him to slow down as the spy will be targeting him. As you are the spy-checker, this shouldn't be too hard to relay to him. What? Oh, just mark him, he'll get the message. If that is all, I need my beauty sleep. Goodnight gentlemen." finished the Spy.

"Everyone knows that you need your sleep. Your face is so ugly, no wonder you wear that mask all ze time!" retorted Medic, a smirk on his lips,"very well, goodnight to you as well".


	5. Chapter 5

Chap 5

The next day at BLU...

All the mercenaries clambered out of bed to find a shivering Scout hiding out on top of the lockers. Everyone looked nervously at him,only to be looked at with terrified, wide-eyed fear. This was not the usual, jittery nerves, it was pure fear.

Naturally, all eyes turned to the Medic to see what they could do for their youngest member.

After what seemed like an eternity, the Medic spoke,"Leave us."This statement was accompanied with an airy wave of his hand. "wait, Spy, Pyro, please stay behind."

The moment the iron door swung shut, the Spy spoke, his hands crossed."Why...Why did you spy?".

**"**Didn't" said the scout simply.

"Then who did,and more importantly, why are you so nervous?" asked the Spy calmly, although his outer appearance portrayed him as calm, he was shaking like mad on the inside.

"If we die, I'll never see my ma... Or my brothers...ever again" the scout whimpered.

"Oh... Nein, wir sollten nicht dem zugestimmt haben, das ist geistige Folter... Never mind, relax...no harm will come to you friend, just let Pyro stay close and no harm will befall you"

After numerous comforting words and pats, the Scout relented and clambered down of the the door was opened, the four red members came out only to find their teammates waiting eagerly for any news that Scout was okay.

"what in the frickin' world are you staring at?!" screamed the Scout, clearly still touchy about his nervous breakdown.

"He's fine, mates. That one thing I can see." mumbled Sniper, to general murmurs of assent.

After assuring them he was fine, the other RED members walked away, still not truly not convinced by the pathetic excuses made by Spy, Medic, Scout, and to a lesser extent, Pyro.

Fifteen minutes later, Helen's voice rang out throughout Teufort "Alright gentlemen, time to end this war once and for all, good luck, and remember, ceasefire will start at seven in the evening and end at eight in the morning. Also, all captives do not, I repeat, DO NOT need to be 'returned', so to speak, to their respective teams at ceasefire, but they WILL need to be kept alive, just enough. Their team, the captive's, that is, Can still save them at night, but NO killing. Anyone who disobeys this rule will be severely punished."

The whole RED team shuddered internally at the thought of spending one whole night in the BLU team's base. Little did they know, just opposite them, the BLU team was doing the same.

"if that's all, get ready...Three, two, one. Fight to the death... literally" Helen's final word hung in the air even as both teams screamed death threats and war cries.


	6. Chapter 6

Chap 6

BLU scout ran head first over the bridge still screaming death threats at the RED team about their unmentionables and what form of torture he would put them through. Pyro also seemed to be screaming, but with that mask, who could tell?

However, the moment he set foot in the intel room, Scout suddenly realized Pyro was not there, and just how much trouble he was in.

"oh shit" he only had time to let those words escape his mouth before a huge fist came his way, Effectively knocking a few front teeth out, when a second fist came, it knocked him out cold. He bowled over, eyes rolling to the back of his head, scattergun flying feet away from him

"Did heavy kill leetle running BLU boy?" asked the RED heavy softly as he bound the Scout's hands and feet to a chair.

"Nein, he has a pulse. He is just knocked out." said the RED medic, as he walked in, accompanied by most of the team, save for engineer, pyro, demo man and soldier."Spy! Have you implanted the television in ze BLU base?" added the Medic sharply.

"of course. They should notice it as soon as the timer on the clocking device Engineer put on it wears off." Replied the Spy coldly," Imagine, they almost caught me" He gave a small shudder at these words.

" Silence maggots! The prisoner's coming round!" shushed the Soldier, making big 'shushing gestures' to match.

Slowly, the BLU scout came round, amid eager RED team mercenaries. At first glance, He thought he was hallucinating, but as reality caught up with him, his eyes widened to a frightening degree and he let out a terrified scream that caused both teams to stop fighting momentarily and put a smile on Helen's lips.

Review are appreciated!


	7. Chapter 7

Chap 7

Thanks to KingdomOfThomond for the plot when I got writers block!

As the Scout awoke, he got the shock of his life. He was sitting on a bench in the Red Sox's headquarters, face to face with José Iglasius. He let out a scream of delight, and tried to rush forward, but found he could not.

Probably the shock of the seeing Iglasius paralyzed me with...excitement? He tried to reason with himself. Then, all the better, eight other Red Sox members came up to him, some wearing looks of excitement, others, plain indifference.

Suddenly, out of the blue, Iglasius prodded him with a bat, while the others cheered him on. It hurt like hell, but it was over in a minute.

" Would you like to play?" Asked Iglasius, in a voice that strangely reminded Scout of the Medic. Eager not to be left out, Scout hastily picked up his bat and ran over to a baseball field which seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

After a few games, which he lost very badly due to his arms feeling like lead being dragged down by water. A monster of a man, bathed in shadow, suddenly picked up Scout and walked around the pitch in a form of celebration, then he proceeded to unceremoniously dump him onto a very comfy chintz armchair.

However comfy it was, Scout had a strange feeling he was not in control of his own destiny anymore. Trying in vain to stand, he found himself being shoved back into the chair.

After he calmed himself enough to open his eyes, he got another shock, and it was not a pleasant one. The RED Spy loomed over him, knife in hand, grinning madly.

"Now," He said, a note of badly suppressed glee in his voice, " Let's see of they won't give us the intel when they see their little runner..." With that, he plunged the knife into the poor BLU member's arm and twisted hard.

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	8. Chapter 8

Chap 8

Scream after scream issued from Scout's mouth as the RED Spy gleefully stabbed him over and over again, only stepping back so the RED medic could heal him and allow him to suffer even more.

Meanwhile, all fighting had stopped from the Teufort bridge as both teams ran back to their respective bases, obviously for different reasons.

RED team ran back to join in the fun that had been started when Spy and Medic had mysteriously disappeared from the battle. RED Scout only ran back after a very loud raspberry and gleeful butt waggle in the opposing team's direction.

BLU team started running just after RED team left, right after they realized that the screams were coming from their own Scout. Medic even cringed when he heard them, he was surprisingly sensitive for his line of work.

After that humiliating raspberry from the RED team's scout, soldier took a potshot at him with his gun. Sadly, the Scout disappeared so quickly he seemed to leave a ghost of himself where he was just moments ago. A mad grin on his face, absolutely sickening.

With panic surrounding all of them, they watched in terror (from their intelligence room) the horrors the "Deranged RED Team" as Soldier so kindly put it, put Scout through every single horror known to the mercenaries, which included them stripping down his beloved scattergun, pistol and bat, one piece at a time. At the end of it, Scout was crying, literally crying, first for his ma, then for his brothers.

"Wait, he is drugged!" the Medic cried suddenly, leaping up from his seat and attracting the attention of the rest his team. Seeing the confused looks from some of the less intelligent BLU members, he continued," See his pupils, they are unfocused and blurry, wait... That serum on the RED table! That was a side project I was working on, to trick one of the RED team to believe we were his teammates. The serum causes the member who was injected to think the opposing team is HIS team. That means that what Scout is seeing is that WE are the ones doing all the damage! It could still cause side effects, I have not fully tested it yet..." his sentence trailed off into nothing.

Without further ado, BLU team abandoned their act of watching the miniature television screen and gathered around the intelligence table just like they had done just yesterday, only missing one little slugger.

RED had gone too far, now it was payback time. It. Was. On.

Thanks again to KingdomOfThomond

Reviews are appreciated!


	9. Chapter 9

Chap 9

While the other BLU members were busy gaping at the miniature television in their base, the drug injected into Scout's blood system was starting to take effect. His head felt light and his thoughts were starting To cloud. Suddenly, his 'team' seemed to all crowd around him, excited and whispering.

"All vight everyone. Let's get started! I need to know what that absolute idiot of that Medic's serum can do!" always the one eager to test his theories, the RED Medic immediately whipped out a clipboard and started to take notes, occasionally stopping to throw a sideways glance at their delusional BLU hostage, muttering frantically all the time.

After awhile, the Medic seemed to be satisfied with the immense number of notes he had taken down and stepped back to allow his team to start a 'experiment' they had devised.

Earlier that day, the RED Engineer had helped to construct a machine that when switched on, projected a hologram of the nearest person's most loved and trusted relative. The clever thing was that the hologram could and would react to outside stimuli, whether it be pain, happiness or anything else. It only needed a few more tweaks before it was ready.

Engi had been absolutely delighted to have the chance to test it on a real person. Nobody ever volunteered for one of Engi or Medic's 'experiments', even after they had convinced them it was for Science.

Originally, the RED Engineer had planned for this device to be used as a morale booster for his team, but was perfectly satisfied with his machine being used in this fashion as well.

The moment the machine, or BOMFOT (booster of morale for our team), was hooked up and properly calibrated to BLU Scout's brainwaves, a single figure appeared out of thin air. A lady in a blue dress, hair in a sixties bun. The moment the figure appeared, BLU Scout's eyes snapped open and he muttered a single word,"Ma..."

At that moment, with almost real regret, RED Engi fired up a specially modified level three sentry and peppered BLU Scout's Ma with bullets and missiles, earning several terrified yells of horror from various other members of RED and of course, the BLU Scout himself.

Fighting rigid metal bands which restrained him, BLU Scout struggled to break free and rescue who he thought was his ma. His senses were dulled and so, could not tell the difference between a hologram and the real thing.

"No! You sick bastards! I thought I could friggin' trust you! You were all like family to me! How could you do this?" Terrified yells combined with free-flowing tears attracted sympathy from many of the REDs, though they did not show it. Even though they were trained killers, they were still human. And a basic sense of humanity forbade someone going so far as to use pyscological torture on another human, even if they were supposed to kill him or her.

A full minute later, the BLU Scout's Ma dropped dead to the ground. One last blood-curdling yell escaped her lips then all was quiet except for BLU Scout's quiet (not really) sobbing.

"alright" said a fairly upset Sniper,"let's get this over with... Somebody get the towel and the hot water..."

With that, the RED Mercs split up to fetch what they needed. They were close to breaking the BLU scout, they could feel it.

**Reviews are appreciated!**


	10. Chapter 10

The BLU Scout shuddered at the horrible amount of pain, horror, and torture he had been put through in the small space of five hours by who he thought were his second family, the BLU team. He had been half-drowned when a wet, boiling hot towel had been draped over his face and water poured over it while an extremely uncomfortable Engineer had tilted his head backwards, preventing him from breathing. He had coughed, spluttered, kicked and tried to scream in order for them to release him, and thankfully the RED team had given in, with much grumbling from the war-hardened Soldier.

Before the Scout had had any time to recover, however, the merciless RED team had devised another way to torture the Scout. The soldier had hit him with the RED Engineer's wrench, despite the Engi's many protests. Several times.

After the Spy had dubbed this form of torture too 'common' and had ordered the Soldier to step aside, he produced his butterfly knife and proceeded to hamstring the Scout. That is to say, sliced the muscle starting from the hip joint to his kneecap, so that the Scout couldn't longer run. He had forcibly taken what the Scout treasured most-His legs. Immediately, blood splattered out from the wound and coated all the mercenaries in the immediate vicinity. The Spy had let this continue for a full minute before he allowed the Medic to step forward and heal him with his modified übergun, which allowed him to heal BLU members.

In the end, the sight of blood, mucus, saliva, and the alternating looks of pain, anguish, and pure hatred had taken its tole on most of the RED team, who promptly left, leaving only the Medic (who still had notes to take), Spy (who was also a war-hardened veteran), Soldier (who was a self-proclaimed professional interrogator), and the RED scout (though he had decided to stay, he still looked squeamish, probably because his counterpart looked so very similar to him)

Eventually, the medicines running through the BLU Scout's veins wore off and he began to see blurry shades of red through his half-closed, swollen eyes. The Medic had given up on healing him entirely, proclaiming him a goner and sitting back to take notes and enjoy the adrenaline that he had not experienced for far too long. However, the realization that he had been tricked brought new strength to the Scout, and he resumed kicking and screaming.

The RED team had prepared for this and as soon as the scout had opened his mouth, the Soldier had smoothly sidestepped the Scout's one working leg and hooked a bridle into his mouth, making him unable to bite anyone anymore. The bridle was held in place by two 'reins' that the soldier was holding in his hands. Despite the obvious difference in strength, the Scout was unwilling to go down without a fight. So he fought, pulling his head forward and fighting the iron bonds that held his hands behind the wooden chair he was forcibly seated on. The cylindrical piece of metal hurt his tongue but he continued pulling nonetheless, unwilling to give the RED team the satisfaction of knowing that they had beaten him.

The Soldier simply let out a laugh and started pulling back, determined to show the Scout who was boss. After several minutes of pulling, the Soldier grew tired of toying with the Scout and yanked hard downwards, causing the Scout's jawbone to crack from the pressure. The Scout gave up pulling for fear of further damage. His broken will, combined with the Soldier's continuous pulling led to the back of his head smacking against against his chair, adding yet another fracture to his list of injuries.

"Now, will we behave?" The Soldier leaned in close, eager to make his point clear. Defeated and disheartened, the Scout nodded, but his eyes were still shooting daggers at the Soldier. He wanted THEM to know that the only reason he wasn't fighting was because he couldn't, it didn't mean that he wouldn't when the time came. The Soldier obviously noticed this last, desperate attempt at defiance and was determined to knock it out of the Scout. He balled his fists and punched the Scout in his lower jaw, even going as far as to make a joke, "this kid has a glass jaw boys. This punch'll break it AND his spirit!"

After laughing politely at his joke, the Spy stepped up and began to interrogate the Scout on the whereabouts and contents of the BLU team's intelligence.

After five solid hours of 'I don't KNOW!' and 'STOPPIT!', the RED members gave up and went upstairs to dinner, after a VERY satisfied Medic had happily proclaimed," five cracked ribs, a fractured pelvis, a dislocated shoulder, a broken leg and arm is not bad for five hours of work, ja? Of course, those are only the minor injuries..." He had, of course, also made the remark that the Scout would probably not live through the night, because of the heavy bleeding caused by his ripped hamstring, but it was of no matter, so the Soldier, Spy and himself had simply shrugged and walked out nonchalantly. The RED Scout, however, had stayed behind, and as soon as the RED mercenaries had turned the corner, hastily uncloaked and took on the tall, pointed form of the BLU Spy. The BLU Scout, however, was not unduly worried as he had worked out what had happened by that time. His swollen eyes filled with tears as he realized that he was going to be saved. Then, a question popped into his mind, so he asked it.

"Where is the other Scout?"

The spy cut him free of his remaining binds before answering with one, simple word,

"Dead"

The Scout's smile vanished as he realized that this was no longer a game, the RED team had tried to kill him, and they had paid the price dearly. The Scout, for the first time that he could remember, began to wonder why exactly were they fighting a never ending, painful, stupid, useless war for two spoilt brats. He pondered that question as unconsciousness claimed him and the Spy gingerly lifted him up, wincing at the number of bones sticking out at odd angles as he did so.


	11. The note

The BLU Medic was found stomping around his surgery a after hours after the Spy had dropped off the Scout, a cup of coffee in hand. The baffled Engineer had barely opened his mouth to ask was wrong when Medic screamed," SOME IDIOTIC BASTARD HAS TAKEN MY ÜBERGUN. VE CANNOT HEAL THE BOY FULLY UNTIL IT IS FOUND. SCARS, TRAUMA, HALF-HEALED WOUNDS. HAVE THE RED TEAM NO MERCY?! SERIOUSLY, I WALK AWAY FOR FIVE MINUTES TO MAKE A CUP OF COFFEE AND THEN IT IS GONE!" Finishing his rant, he sat down heavily on a crate labelled 'extra gloves'. His coffee sloshed out of his cup and landed on his pristine white uniform, but he did not seem to care as he put his face in his hands and sobbed.

Needless to say, the Engineer was at a loss for words. He had known the RED team to be cruel, but this was just plain ridiculous! They weren't even giving the boy a fighting chance! Even though the BLU team had murdered THEIR Scout, he had died relatively painlessly and quickly. The only thing he could think of to comfort the Medic was to ask him about the Scout, as the Medic always seemed to be happier when discussing one of his patients.

"So... How is he?" The Engineer chose his words carefully, not wanting the Medic to feel even worse about himself.

"He vill live, but their Spy had done a number of lasting injuries to him that I cannot fully heal without the help of my übergun." The Engineer was about to ask what kind of lasting damage had been dealt when the Medic sighed resignedly and beckoned him to a side room, smaller but more well-kept than the main infirmary. The Engineer was impressed with the complex machines that lined the walls of the room. Those machines were undoubtedly keeping the Scout alive... For now.

The Administrator had always kept a close eye on what resources the mercenaries used, and sincerely believed that all of them were expendable and should be rid off as soon as they were of now use. Dell Cognaher shuddered to think about what she would make them do in order to stop 'wasting resources'.

The shuffling of papers immediately snapped Engineer of of his daze. As he looked over to a small, cluttered desk that was piled high with papers, the Medic reappeared at his side with a file, simply labelled 'Scout'.

With a strange sense of unease, the Engineer braced himself and took a look inside. What was inside repulsed him, but for some strange reason he kept reading on, desperate to understand his teammate's condition. The descriptions were very vivid, made even more so by the full-color pictures stapled to them. There was one, however, that he could not bring himself to believe. He looked up and beckoned the Medic over from where he had previously been tending to the catatonic scout. He simply pointed at the description, the only one lacking a photograph. The Medic grimaced.

" I did not believe it myself even when I saw it. It is quite remarkable that someone would give up their name in order to leave a... Lasting impression. Come over and I vill show you." The Medic shook his head sadly as he led the Engineer over to the immobile Scout. The Engineer was slightly uncomfortable with the fact that this Scout was not moving at all, not even energetically shaking his leg like he normally did. The Medic drew in a deep breath and turned the Scout over, so that he was now lying face-down. He took in another steadying breath before slowly peeled back the thick bandages covering the Scout's back. As the last layer came undone, the Engineer could not help but gasp.

In big, capital letters which stood out mockingly from the Scout's pale skin, SOMEONE had decided to engrave their name with the use of lit cigarettes.

The word started from the boy's left shoulder and made its was down diagonally until his right lower back, the word 'JAQUES' stood out, made out of small cigarete burns. Without a doubt, the RED Spy had decided to lay claim to the damage done to the Scout.

The engineer's grip on his trusty wrench tightened as the Medic began methodically cleaning the Scout's wounds before bandaging them up again. Engineer made a silent vow to himself to take revenge on the person who had done this. He clenched his teeth and walked out of the room to modify his sentries. They would pay for this...

Meanwhile, Lawrence Mundy was on sentry duty, up on the balcony of Teufort. He stretched and yawned before resettling his sniper rifle on his shoulder. He was tired, cold, and hungry, but unwilling to let himself, or his team, dies due to his negligence. Parts of the team were covering different parts of the base while the others Soldier was standing in a corner of the most, ready to blast any REDs that came that way, the pyro was standing guard outside the intelligence room. And, as an added precaution, the Engineer had set up several sentries in secret locations which he had not revealed to anybody, lest the Administrator catch him going over the sentry limit and force him to destroy them.

His razorback itched uncomfortably and he silently debated whether it would be worth it if he took it off for a second-Just to scratch the itch. Normally, he would not even consider wearing it, but the Spy had insisted, telling him that he would target him next too, if he were on the opposing team.

In the end, Sniper quickly slipped off the razorback and scratched his itch. In the midst of his scratching frenzy, his razorback started buzzing faintly, but he simply scowled and gave it a shield was both bulky AND faulty. Karate was much more reliable.

"Stupid machine." He growled. He regretted ever putting it on.

"Oh no, it's no where close to how stupid you were for taking it off... Sniper." The

Sniper could have almost kicked himself for not realizing that the Razorback had been buzzing for a good reason. The RED Spy had been right behind him, cloaked and just barely staying out of the shield's radius. When he wheeled around, he came face-to-face with the RED Spy, who wore a self-satisfied smile on his face and had his hands in the air.

"Do not worry... I have not come to kill you... Yet. We from RED come with a proposition. You allow us to... Grieve... Our Scout for five days, and we will let you tend to yours. You do not use the Scout, as that would obviously make you severely overpowered. Ah yes... As a sign of our... Goodwill... When we resume fighting, one member of your pathetic team may accompany the Scout for the day. Simply shoot over a note on who is it and we will not use our team's counterpart for the same day, allowing for a day of rest, non?"

The Sniper nodded, unable to speak. The RED Spy handed him a folded note, previously clenched in his fist. The note read,

"I, Helen the administrator of Teufort and RED and BLU, hereby allow the change in schedule as organized by the RED team. Any member caught not following these rules will be severely dealt with."

Sniper could tell that the note was real as the moment he finished reading it, outburst into flames and branded his hand with a large, loopy, purple signature that most definitely belong to the Administrator. Sniper knew, from experience, that this mark would not wash off and would slowly melt away after several days. He swore silently and looked up, but the RED Spy had already gone. He picked up his Razorback and went in to tell all those off duty about the newly-modified schedule.


End file.
